Washington, D.C. – Safari Club International learned today that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will delay its long awaited decision on whether it will list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The Service indicated that it expects to finalize its decision within the next month. Despite historically high population numbers worldwide, the Service is considering whether to list the species due to allegations that global climate change will destroy the polar bears sea-ice habitat over the next 45 years.

SCI has been involved in this listing process since 2005 and recently argued that the Service should take up to an additional six months to properly review the scientific evidence, including nine new U.S. Geological Survey studies made public in September 2007. SCI opposes the listing of the polar bear because 1) a listing will have a detrimental impact on importing legally hunted trophies from Canada; 2) the scientific data on impacts to the species over the next 45 years is not certain enough to satisfy the ESA standards for listing; and 3) the ESA is not the proper vehicle for addressing global climate change.

SCI President Dennis Anderson reacted to the announcement, “SCI continues to urge the Service to take the time necessary to take a hard look at the science and the impact of listing. They should not forget that over the last 13 years, well regulated sport hunting of polar bears, and the dollars it funnels into research, management and local native communities, have contributed to the tremendous growth of populations in Canada. The listing of the species will undermine these efforts.”